You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge and it’s hard to change what you don’t measure.
Few people would say they don’t want to make changes in their life. No matter how good things might be going, we want to make them better.
And yet, we resist change—sometimes consciously and often unconsciously. We SAY we want to change but we don’t always do what we need to do to make those changes.
There are many reasons for this, but today, I’d like to focus on three key reasons why we don’t create the changes we wish to make.
We need to ACT!
A-cknowledge
C-hoose
T-rack
The genesis of change—at least the kind that we choose as opposed to the change that just happens to us—is to accept what is. We must first acknowledge the situation in order to do anything about it. It sounds so obvious and so simple, but we often overlook this step.
All too often, we think things are better than they really are. We’re a bit too familiar with the problem and we justify it by saying that it’s not all that bad.
Acknowledge. The first step is to acknowledge what it is that needs changing. We don’t need to make it wrong, we don’t need to defend it, we just need to say, “Ok, this is what’s so and I want it to be different.” Our power is in our ability to decide.
I see many people who aren’t willing to acknowledge their debt, their weight, their lack of success in business, their relationship problems and more. They’re unhappy but yet unwilling to define and face the problems that are often so obvious to everyone else. Denial is a crafty affliction and we all have it in one degree or another.
Choose. The next question is, HOW do we want it different? Sometimes we know what we DON’T want, but we aren’t sure what we DO want.
Try this: take the problem and reverse it.
Let’s say you think you weigh too much. The problem is being overweight. That’s the truth and it’s important to acknowledge this fact. But it’s also important to redirect your attention on what you WANT. You want a fit, trim, healthy body. It’s also important to get clear on why you want this. Your reasons are powerful motivators for doing what you need to do to get the job done.
Once we accept our situation, and choose our objective, we can begin to make changes.
Track. A key strategy for success is to track your progress. It’s hard to change what you don’t measure.
Allow me to share with you a personal experience. I’ve been heavier than I’d like to be for several years. I didn’t have much trouble accepting the fact I was overweight, but I also didn’t seem to remain consistent about weight loss and maintenance.
This year, I made a new commitment to tracking my progress regardless of the results. Each week at the same time and on the same scale, I weigh myself and record it in a spreadsheet. In addition, I also track three things daily: whether or not I exercised, whether or not I consumed any alcohol (empty calories) and whether or not I had a low-calorie day (below 2000). It only takes 20 seconds to do this each morning.
I’ve been meticulous about it for nine weeks and I’m glad to say I weigh 19 pounds less than I did when I started. I remain steadfast in recording this information every day.
And I’ve done this in my business as well. Over the past year, I’ve never been better at monitoring the key metrics that relate to our progress. In the process, I tripled my business and quadrupled our profits. I think there’s a connection.
If you want to make meaningful change in your life, get real about what is, get clear on what you want and then track it. Record where you are and your progress in making the change. In doing so, you’ll find yourself making changes with less effort and achieving more success.
This article was originally published on SuccessNet.org in 2009.
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